Hooksett School Board censures member John Lyscars

HOOKSETT — Hooksett School Board member John Lyscars has been censured by his fellow members.

Lyscars got into trouble with the board over, among other things, comments he has made to staff of School Administrative Unit 15.

School board member Phil Denbow made the motion to censure Lyscars, saying “we have received numerous emails from citizens on our SAU email, as well as during public input, to take this step, and many other emails where people have asked us to please do something to stop John’s peculiar disrespectful behavior.”

Denbow said Lyscars cannot be removed from the board for his past actions, so the censure — an official reprimand — is the viable alternative.“John has humiliated our administrative staff to the point where they’ve had to come here and voice their grave concerns two times. He’s also exhibited disturbing behavior at our meetings where he’s screamed at the top of his lungs and acted disrespectfully to fellow citizens during public input sessions. I believe this is one action we can take as a board to address both the whistleblower hotline related emails to staff as well as the culture of fear that (Superintendent) Dr. (Charles) Littlefield has described.”

Denbow was referring to two separate letters from Hooksett school administrators complaining about perceived threatening behavior from Lyscars.

In the censure vote, school board Chairman Trishia Korkosz and Cheryl Akstin sided with Denbow and vice chairman David Pearl was absent from the meeting, leaving Lyscars as the lone vote against his own censure.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t even understand what censure is,” said Lyscars, following the meeting. “You know, I’m a fairly naive person to the goings-on of the school board. I’ll have to read about what exactly censure means.

In terms of his own behavior, which includes holding up a smiley face during public comment at a recent meeting, Lyscars said his he has already admitted to his one mistake, which is writing an email to the Hooksett School District principals inviting them to use a “confidential” hotline to voice their concerns.

Lyscars says he’s going to continue to voice concerns over the Pinkerton Academy contract, specifically the requirement that 90 percent of high school students attend the Derry high school beginning in year six of the contract.